Jinan University, established in 1906, is the first national university under the joint guidance of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and Education Ministry of the State Council of P. R. China. It is also the first Chinese university to enroll overseas Chinese and foreign students. With the largest number of overseas students on campus, Jinan University enjoys a well-earned reputation as the paramount academy for overseas Chinese and is one of the top 100 universities under the Key Construction Project of the 21st Century of China.

The College of Chinese Language and Culture of Jinan University (CCLC) was founded by the authorization of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the Education Ministry of the State Council of P. R. China in June, 1993. It was composed of Guangzhou Overseas Chinese School (established in 1953), Department of Teaching Chinese as a Second Language of Jinan University (established in 1985), and the Department of Pre-university (established in 1925). CCLC has always dedicated itself to the education of Chinese language and culture, Chinese teaching as a second language, and it is a specialized college of Jinan University, which carries out overseas Chinese education, Chinese teaching as a second language as well as pre-university education for overseas students. Adhering to the traditional principle of Jinan University—Oriented to students abroad, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, CCLC provides students from the whole world with a series of Chinese language and culture education (from Chinese language training programs to doctoral graduate programs), forming its own characteristics and advantages.

The college has Department of Applied Linguistics, Department of Overseas Chinese, Department of Chinese Language Education and Pre-university Department as its teaching units. The Overseas Chinese Education Research Institute (OCERI), running the operation mode of “Two Titles, Same Staffs with CCLC”, is the first overseas Chinese education research institute in Chinese universities.

CCLC has now developed into the “National Academic Base of Teaching Chinese as a Foreign language”, the “National Academic Base of Chinese Language and Culture” and one of the “Key Institutions of Facilitating Chinese Teaching in Neighboring Countries”. CCLC is one of the few HSK (Chinese Proficiency Test) centers, BCT (Business Chinese Test) centers, and centers of Test of Chinese Proficiency for Japanese. It is also an examination venue for the National Entrance Examination of Chinese Universities for overseas students and the main examination venue for the Joint Entrance Examination of Jinan University and Huaqiao University for overseas students.